Finding your public IP address for a support call
How to find the public IP address a support agent asks for, read it out clearly, and what VPNs, IPv4 versus IPv6 and the location mean.
Support teams ask for your public IP address to find your connection in their logs, to unblock it in a firewall, or to see why a mail server rejects you. It is the address your internet provider or your office gives your whole network, as the internet sees it.
The fast way
Open the What Is My IP page. Press the copy button and paste the address into the ticket. The page also shows the provider and an approximate location, and a Copy all block made for tickets.
Public and private addresses
The address on your computer is usually not the public one. Addresses that start with 192.168, with 10, or from 172.16 to 172.31 are private and mean something only inside your network. Support needs the public address the page shows, and everyone behind the same router shares it.
IPv4 and IPv6
IPv4 addresses look like 203.0.113.5. IPv6 addresses look like 2001:db8::1. Many networks have both, and a browser uses only one of them for each visit, so two people on the same network can read out different addresses. If the page shows both, tell the agent both.
VPNs, proxies and mobile networks
A VPN or proxy replaces your address with its own. That is what websites see, but it is not your office’s address: turn the VPN off before you look it up if the agent needs your normal connection. On a phone, mobile data and Wi-Fi have different addresses, and mobile networks often share one address among many customers.
The location is approximate
The place shown next to the address comes from a database of where providers announce their ranges. It can be a long way off, and a VPN changes it completely. Do not use it to prove where you are.
Reading it out over the phone
Say each number and each dot slowly: for 203.0.113.5, “two zero three, dot, zero, dot, one one three, dot, five”. An IPv6 address is too long to read aloud, so send it in writing with the copy button.
Privacy
ProbeKit shows the address back to you and looks the place up in a database on its own servers. It does not store the address and does not send it to any other service. Hide the address badge with the eye button before you share your screen.
What to do with the address
If a mail server rejects you, run the address through the blacklist check: a listing explains many rejections. To see who the address belongs to, use the ASN tool.
Common questions
- Why does my IP address change?
- Most home and mobile connections get a dynamic address from the provider, which can change when the router restarts. Offices often pay for a static one.
- Why does another site show a different IP than ProbeKit?
- A VPN, a proxy, or IPv4 versus IPv6: each shows the address of the path it used. Compare both families before you assume that something is wrong.
- Is it safe to share my public IP address?
- It is not secret: every site you visit sees it. It tells someone roughly which provider you use and where, not your name or street address. Share it with your support provider and avoid posting it publicly.
- How do I find the public IP address of a server?
- Look up the A and AAAA records of its name with the DNS tool. The address the server uses to send mail can be a different one; the MX and SPF tools show it.
Try it on your own setup:
Show my IP address